


Shine A Light

by fullmoon02



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-30
Updated: 2013-01-30
Packaged: 2017-11-27 12:51:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/662202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullmoon02/pseuds/fullmoon02
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story takes place in 1975 when The Rolling Stones is touring in USA. Sam and Dean are going to the concert but they have just two days to make it from Kansas to Memphis, Tennessee where the concert will be played. The journey goes less than smoothly but they get to meet some awesome people (like Castiel) on the road.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shine A Light

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Supernatural [Era Big Bang](http://spnbigbang-era.livejournal.com/).  
> Thank you Jennie for beta!

_I was happy for a day in 1975_  
(Belle &Sebastian: The State I Am In)

“Hey Jude, don’t make it bad…”  
“Dean, what are you doing?”  
“What? They’re encouraging me to do this!”  
“They play The Beatles as a background music and you interpret is like a message to sing along?”  
“I still don’t understand how you don’t,” Dean said and smirked.  
Sam just continued to look at the records without bothering to answer.

They were visiting the small record shop just a few blocks away from their home. They came here every Friday and it was usually Dean who bought something almost every time. The shop was small but it was full of recordings. The piles of vinyl records filled not only the tables but also the floor. Only some small paths led the customers between the piles of records and to the desk. Behind the desk was Ben, a young man who worked in the shop with some older guy whose name Sam didn’t know. Ben was wearing a white t-shirt with the text “SEX PISTOLS” hand-written on it. Sam had never heard of a band called Sex Pistols before.

Even though Sam visited the record shop weekly it was mostly because Dean wanted to have him as a company. While Dean bought some records almost every week, Sam was mostly just looking at the ads of the concerts and the posters of the bands on the walls. He always checked out the new movies running in their local theatre, too. Sometimes Sam tried to get Dean to go to the movies with him but Dean was hardly ever interested. Dean told Sam that because they already lived together it would be only healthy for them to stay away from each other every once in a while. The fact that Dean still wanted Sam to come to the record store with him didn’t quite match with his argument but Sam never told that to Dean. He didn’t mind coming here with his brother, on contrary he liked to spend time with him.

When Dean was walking to the desk with the records he wanted to buy Sam was looking at the ads on the notice board. One of them was particularly interesting to him:  
“THE ROLLING STONES TOUR OF AMERICAS 1975” it said and listed the tour dates and cities. Sam stopped at “JULY 4th MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE”. July 4th was only three days but also 500 miles away and Sam wanted to go there, but first he wanted to make Dean want to go there because Dean had the car. Sam was already starting to make up a plan when he stepped outside the record store with his brother.

Their home was a small apartment near the university campus. Sam was studying law at the university and Dean was working at the garage nearby. The apartment was small for two of them and every once in a while they had been talking about moving apart. However, neither of them had ever even started packing up their things. They told their friends that they managed better financially when they lived together and that was true but it wasn’t the whole truth. They lived together mostly because they wanted to live together and a home wasn’t home for them if they were there alone. Their apartment had a living room, small kitchen and a bedroom that was full of Sam’s books, notes and papers. Dean slept in the living room with his books, records, clothes and TV and he seemed to be happy with that arrangement.

When Sam and Dean came home from the record store, Dean walked right to the turntable and put on his new Led Zeppelin record and then he went to the bathroom to take a shower. Sam sat on the couch, listened to the music, looked through their mail and noticed he had once again forgotten to return some of the library books in time. Sam stood up, took off the Led Zeppelin record and put on The Rolling Stones instead and then went to his room to start looking for the library books. He found two Agatha Christie’s novels, neither of which had been as good as Then there were none, but the third book, about ancient lore, was missing. Sam walked to the living room to look if he had left the book there and while he was looking, Dean stepped out from the bathroom.  
“Have you seen a library book around here by any chance?” Sam asked, turning around to face Dean.  
“Did you look under the couch?” Dean asked and picked up his clothes from the closet before returning to the bathroom.  
With a sigh Sam crouched, looked under the couch and found the book. It was covered with dust but Dean had obviously read it because there were post-it notes glued on some pages. When Dean stepped out of the bathroom again, with his clothes on this time, Sam showed him the book and asked:  
“Are these notes important to you? If you want to, I can loan this book again.”  
“Nah, they’re not important. You can go ahead and return the book.”  
“I didn’t know you were interested in these kinds of things.”  
“Who said I am?”  
“Well, you never read, and now all of a sudden I find this book from under the couch where only you could leave it with your post-it notes glued on the pages. To me that tells interest.”  
“Well done, Sherlock.”  
Sam took the post-it notes away from the book and put it inside his backpack with the two other library books. He could as well return them right away.  
“Don’t forget to check my baby,” Dean reminded him. Dean’s baby, the 1967 Chevy Impala, was parked in the university’s parking lot. Dean didn’t exactly have a permission to keep his car there all the time but so far no one had asked them to take it away. Still Dean wanted to check the condition of the car almost every night and usually it was Sam’s job to take a look at it while going to the university. Just when Sam stepped outside the front door he could hear his brother’s voice from the living room:  
“Hey, who changed my music to The Rolling Stones?!”

Later that evening they were eating grilled cheese sandwiches and watching a quiz show on TV. Sam would have known the right answer to most of the questions but he had stayed quiet. Dean found it irritating when Sam yelled the right answers and said that it “kind of takes away all the purpose of watching this show”. The show was now ending and there was only one question left, with a prize of 50 000 dollars. The competitor had already given his answer but the show went to the commercial break before the host announced if he had won or not.  
“Dean…”  
“Hmm?”  
“You have no work tomorrow, right? And you have the whole weekend off?”  
“Yeah.”  
“And you have no plans for the weekend, right?”  
“Sounds like that will be changed soon.”  
“I was just thinking that it would be nice to… go somewhere.”  
“Such as?”  
“Memphis.”  
“No.”  
“Dean…”  
“No. Too much Elvis fans, too much bad music…”  
“What if I’m now offering you a chance to hear some good music in Memphis?”  
“I’m listening.”  
“The Rolling Stones.”  
Dean stared at Sam for a moment. The look on Dean’s face told Sam that he wanted to say no but he couldn’t. Instead, with a sigh Dean said:  
“All right. When?”  
“On Saturday.”  
“That’s Independence Day. Lot’s of people, lots of rush. We should drive 500 miles in two days in that kind of traffic… How do you even know if there are any tickets available anymore?”  
“There is. I bought us the tickets from the record store.”  
“Really? Show me them.”  
“Is that a yes, then? We are going?”  
“Realising I will most likely regret this, okay. We are going to Memphis.”  
“I knew you couldn’t resist!”  
“But this is only because I want to see The Rolling Stones before they stop touring. Who knows how long they are gonna be around anyway?”  
“Right, right.”  
On TV the host of the quiz show had just announced that the competitor had given the right answer to the final question. The audience gave huge applauds, the stage was full of balloons, the host went a little mad and a huge check was given to the competitor who was suddenly unable to say anything and just looked at the camera, stunned.

The next morning Sam wanted to wake Dean up right away but knew it would have been a mistake to do so. It was better to be a bit late but with Dean in a good mood than vice versa. In the two hours during which Dean was sleeping in a living room Sam had made coffee, read the newspaper, packed their money (which they didn’t really have) and some clothes and also searched for their road map but couldn’t find it. When Dean woke up, he ate a big breakfast, read the comics from the newspaper and drank three cups of coffee without a rush. While waiting, Sam picked a book to read on the road, even though he knew it was highly unlikely he could focus on reading it. He chose Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. He had read it once before but enjoyed it so much he wanted to read it again.

When they walked to the car and stepped inside, Dean was driving, of course. Sam, who was sitting on passenger’s seat opened the glove box and found their road map from there. The map was old and there were some coffee stains on it that made some parts practically impossible to read.  
“We need a new map,” Sam said.  
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I know the way.”  
“Aha. Well, then…”  
Sam put the map away, turned on the radio and had a mini heart attack because the volumes were at the maximum level. After turning the volume down he searched for a station and stopped when he heard the first notes of Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water. When the song faded away, the host was on the air:  
“That was Deep Purple’s hit song Smoke on the Water. You are listening to Radio Rock and I am your DJ Jay.”  
“DJ Jay?” Dean interrupted.  
“I’m wondering if it’s J-A-Y or just J?”  
“Maybe all the other alphabets were already taken?”  
“That must be it.”  
“…you can call to the studio at 555…” DJ Jay continued.  
“Someone should call there and ask about the name!”  
“I’m sure someone has done that already, Dean.”  
“But right now I have news for all of you Rolling Stones fans out there…” DJ Jay announced and Dean and Sam went silent at once. “At the moment they are touring across the States and they will play their next gig in Memorial Stadium at Memphis. However, the rumour has it that the band has met some logistic problems and therefore they might be unable to play in Memphis tomorrow evening. We are following the situation and will keep you up to date.”  
Dean had stopped at the crossroad while they had been listening to the news. He looked at Sam.  
“I think we should still do this,” Sam said.  
Without saying anything Dean turned the car to the left and towards Springfield. They had planned to stay there for overnight and drive from there to Memphis on the next day. There was not as much traffic on the roads as Sam had feared. After a while he leaned his head against the side window and looked at the cars and gas stations and buildings they passed. He didn’t notice falling asleep until Dean shook him gently.  
“Hey Sam, are you hungry?”  
Dean had stopped at the gas station to refill the tank. Sam looked at the ad signs in front of the station and smiled a little. One of the ads was offering two double cheese burgers at the cost of one and where there were double cheese burgers, there was one hungry Dean.  
“Yeah, sure. Just bring me something.”  
“Okey dokey. I’ll ask if they’ve got any pie. Usually places like this have some pie.”  
Sam rolled his eyes and watched Dean walking inside the station. When Dean stepped inside, Sam took their map out of the glove box again. He folded it open, tried to locate the place where they were and noticed that so far Dean had known the right way. Sam put the map away just in time before Dean stepped outside the station and walked to the car with their food in two paper bags. He had bought a double cheeseburger, a large cola and some French fries for both of them but Dean was also carrying a little white box.  
“They had pie!” Dean said raising the little box and smiled wildly.  
Sam took the first bite of his hamburger and only then noticed how hungry he had been. The hamburger tasted delicious but he let Dean eat most of his fries. 

Three hours later Sam suddenly noticed he had already seen the buildings they were passing. He looked at Dean and it didn’t look like he wanted to hear a word from Sam but Sam said anyway:  
“Dean?”  
“Not now, Sam.”  
“Dean, we are lost. You know and I know it.”  
“I followed the signs!”  
“What are you looking for exactly?”  
“A motel.”  
“Which motel?”  
“Any of them would do at this point, really.”  
“And asking for directions is not an option, right?”  
If a look could kill, this would have been the moment when Dean silenced Sam for good.  
After another ten minutes of driving, Dean pulled the car over the side of the road.  
“Maybe the map…?” Sam tried again.  
“It won’t help,” Dean said and stared at the phone booth in front of them. He climbed out of the car and walked in the phone booth, Sam observing him. He took the phone book, found the page he was looking for, then tore it off the book, walked back to the car and threw the page to Sam.  
“There’s one motel in Salvation Road. I marked it there.”  
“Salvation Road? Sounds… heavenly.”  
“Just give me the directions, would you?”

The Salvation Road was on the East side of the town. Dean took the shortcut through a school ground and Sam wasn’t too surprised to see a church literally around the corner when they arrived to the motel. The motel was a big house and the name of the place remained a mystery to them since the only sign they saw was the vacancy sign. Dean parked the car next to the hedge and then they took their stuff and walked to the front door of the house. They stepped inside the hall and noticed that the carpet was so thick their footsteps were barely audible. However, someone had heard them coming in because a young woman walked behind the desk from the back room. Her name tag said Melanie.  
“Welcome!”  
“Yeah, hi,” Sam said as they walked to the desk.  
“Does this place have a name or something?” Dean asked, looking around him.  
“Not yet really,” Melanie explained. “The previous owner passed away three weeks ago and the new owners have not decided the new name yet. We have a suggestion box over there, though” she said and pointed to the little table with a cardboard box on it. “There is also a list of all the names suggested so you can also vote for your favourite.”  
“What name has the most votes at the moment?” Sam asked.  
“Marple House. It’s Marple like Mrs. Marple from the novels of Agatha Christie.”  
“Oh.”  
“Fuck me,” Dean mumbled. When Melanie raised his head, Dean quickly added: “You take credit cards, right?”  
“Sure! Now, if you could you please sign these entrance forms? How long are planning on staying?”  
“Just one night,” Sam said.  
When Melanie tried to charge them, there seemed to be a problem.  
“Umm, sir? Your credit card seems to be expired. Would you like to try another one?”  
“Wha…?”  
“Yes, unfortunately this credit card is not valid.”  
“I don’t…”  
“I got this!” Sam said and took his wallet. “How much it will be?”  
“60 dollars.”  
Sam gave her the money and she gave them the room key with instructions:  
“Upstairs, second room on the left. Breakfast will be served starting at 6 a.m. There is another entrance upstairs and you can use it as well. The shower is at the end of the hall.”

There were six rooms upstairs, three on each side of the hallway. The doors of the rooms were all closed and everything was quiet.  
“It seems like we are the only ones staying here at the moment,” Sam said when he opened the door.  
Their room was rather small but looked comfortable. Lots of wood was used in the walls and the furniture. The main colours were red, white and green and there were even two plants in front of the window. There were several pictures of Elvis and Johnny Cash and the cover art of their records on the walls and even a small statue of young Elvis on the table.  
"It seems like they are taking Elvis quite seriously here."  
“It is kind of obvious, don’t you think?”  
Dean sat down on his bed and Sam sat on his bed opposite Dean.  
“I know you hate it when I say I told you so but I did tell you that using a fake credit card is not a good idea.”  
“It used to work fine.”  
“Well, you should be glad that girl just let us go. She could have called the police!”  
“How much money do we have left now?”  
“Not much.”  
“Fuck.”  
“We can sleep in the car. We have done that plenty of times.”  
“True. And these motel rooms are kind of creepy, don’t you think? I would go crazy if I should spend most of my nights in these rooms.”  
“On the other hand, you could spend most of your days driving on the highway. That wouldn’t be too bad.”  
“Hmm.”  
That night they went to bed early. Dean was asleep before Sam who stayed up and read Jack Kerouac. When Sam put the book away and turned off the lights, he heard something from the outside. To Sam it sounded like a rustle of a very big bird’s wings. He stood up and walked to the window but when he didn’t see anything out of ordinary he walked back to his bed. He listened carefully for a few more minutes but when there was nothing but silence, he finally fell asleep.

The next morning Sam decided to let Dean sleep and left for breakfast alone. He walked down the stairs and saw Melanie there, behind the desk.  
“Don’t you sleep at all at nights?” Sam asked her.  
“No,” Melanie said in a serious tone.  
“Have you ever considered the possibility that you might be a vampire?”  
“I sure have.”  
Sam raised his eyebrows but when Melanie didn’t look like she wanted to keep the conversation going he changed the subject.  
“Do you know if something happened here last night?  
Melanie frowned. “Happened? What do you mean?”  
“Like, were there any other customers here than just the two of us? Or was there some maintenance done in one of the rooms?”  
“Not that I know of,” Melanie said. “I’m sure they would have informed me if something like that was happening. Did you hear something strange, then?”  
“I’m sure it was just a big bird walking on the roof but it definitely kept me awake for a while. Or maybe it was just a rat walking in a ventilation canal or something.”  
“It couldn’t have been a rat, that’s for sure. They should have been smart enough to move the very heavy metallic grids on the end of the canal and even the Einstein of rat world couldn’t have done it. Besides, the screws are so tight they couldn’t have opened them.”  
“Oh, okay, if you say so.”  
“But I will let the maintenance know about this. I’m sorry to hear it bothered you.”  
“No, it’s not a big deal. Anyway, I assume the breakfast is served in the kitchen?” Sam asked and looked at the kitchen’s door that was right next to the reception desk.  
“Yes. Since you and your friend are our only customers at the moment, I asked the kitchen to prepare some breakfast for you there. Just go inside and ask Jim for it.”  
“Thank you.”  
When Sam stepped inside the kitchen he saw a man there, reading a magazine. When he noticed Sam, he raised his gaze and smiled to him.  
“Good morning.”  
“Morning. You must be Jim,” Sam said.  
“Yup. There’s fresh coffee in the pan, some boiled eggs, fried bacon, toasts and muffins,” Jim said, nodding at the table. “Take what you like. And sit down, if you want.”  
“Thanks.”  
“In case you want to take some to give to your friend, there should be some paper bags in the first drawer.”  
“Awesome.”  
Sam put a little bit of everything on his plate and sat down opposite to Jim.  
“Do you mind if I put on the radio?” Jim asked.  
“No, not at all!”  
Jim leaned back a little and turned on the radio. There was a familiar on the air:  
“You are listening to Radio Rock and I am DJ Jay. Yesterday we told you that The Rolling Stones’ tour have met some problems on the road and their next concerts were in danger of being cancelled. Let me remind what happened last night to all of you who were not listening to us yesterday. It started with a phone call we received.”

There was a short pause and DJ Jay continued by playing a phone’s ringing tune and then:  
“Oh, the phone is ringing here in the studio! This is somewhat scaring… I don’t know if I should but I’m going to answer to it anyway… Hello, you are on air.”  
"Hello?"  
The sound of the caller was distant and there was noise on the background. To Sam it sounded like someone called from a gas station or from a bar full of people.  
"Yes, hello. This is Radio Rock, you are on the air."  
"Yeah, this is... gimme a minute... what, Keith?"  
For a moment all Sam and Jim heard was the muffled sound of a discussion. They were unable to hear the exact words until:  
"Yeah, sorry. This is Mick... Jagger."  
"Yes, hello?" DJ Jay said, sounding like he seriously doubted the Mick Jagger from The Rolling Stones calling to him.  
"Do you think it's really him?" Sam mouthed to Jim.  
Jim shrugged, then nodded. Sam nodded him back.

"We heard you saying that we might not be playing in Memphis tomorrow or something..."  
"Yes, the news were telling that you..."  
Jay was suddenly interrupted when someone screamed at the other end of the line.  
"That was Ronnie Wood, everyone, he’s our new guitarist."  
"Oh, alright,” Jay said, sounding very confused.  
"And Keith wants to say hi."  
"Where are you even calling from, man?"  
"I don't know what this place is... A bar. Keith, do you know what this place is? He says this is called McShane's or something."  
"And..."  
"And we just wanted to tell you that everyone who has the tickets will see us playing tomorrow night in Memorial Stadium."  
"So don't worry!" someone yelled from the background. Sam guessed it was Keith.  
"Okay. Good to know. Anything else you would like to say?" Jay finally asked.  
"Umm... Nope."  
"Alright. Well, thanks for calling, Mick. And tell the rest of the band I said hello."  
"Will do."  
Mick hang up the phone and there was a pause before DJ Jay was back on the air:  
"Well, you heard it here first: the band will most likely play tomorrow in Memphis just as scheduled. However, we will keep you up to date and let you know if and when we have more information about their situation. Stay tuned!"  
"They'll have to play. My brother will never forgive me if I make him travel to Memphis just to see Graceland," Sam said.  
"Dean is your brother?" Jim asked.  
"Yup. And he is not really a fan of Stones. He prefers AC/DC and Led Zeppelin over them."  
"I see."  
Jim and Sam discussed while Sam was eating his breakfast though it was mostly Jim who talked and Sam listened. Jim told about his family and his two kids. He told about the history of the motel building and Sam was interested in hearing about it. Turned out the building was almost a century old and at one point it had served as an illegal bar during the prohibition. Sam mostly talked about his studies or other minor things. Sam trusted people more than his brother did but he didn't feel very comfortable talking about himself. When Sam left, he took some breakfast for Dean and then thanked Jim who wished them a safe ride.  
When he walked past Melanie, he gave her the keys of their room.  
“Good luck with working in Marple House, dear!” Sam said before taking the steps upstairs. He didn’t look back but he heard Melanie’s laugh.

When Sam returned to their room, Dean was nowhere to be seen. Sam walked back to the corridor, listened carefully and heard the shower was on. Sam returned to their room and sat down on his bed. Dean had already packed everything so they would be ready to leave as soon as Dean came back. While Sam was waiting, he heard a thud, just like something had landed on the roof. He walked to the window, looked out and thought he saw something or someone standing in the shadows, under a large tree that was on the corner of the house. The creature wasn’t very tall or very big but in the shadows it looked like he had something on back. Sam tried to take a closer look but then Dean stepped inside their room and Sam turned to look at him. When he looked back outside he saw nothing. Sam had a feeling that something was going on and he thought about telling about this to Dean but soon decided it wouldn’t be a good idea. Dean would most likely say he was only imaging or then he would like to stay here and check things out instead of going to the concert. 

Dean threw their bags to the trunk when they walked to their car. Sam noticed a man standing there, leaning against the wall of the building. He had buried his hands inside the pockets of his long, brown trench coat and to Sam he looked a bit lost. When the man looked up at Sam and Dean, Dean met his gaze and their gazes locked to each other. Sam looked at Dean, the man and then back at his brother:  
"Dean?"  
Dean didn't take his eyes out of the man when he answered:  
"Hmm?"  
"We should get going."  
"Probably."  
"We need a new map."  
"It's Independence Day, Sam. Where do you think we're gonna buy ourselves a road map today when all the stores are closed?"  
"From a gas station, perhaps?"  
Dean didn’t answer to him but just kept looking at the guy.  
"You are looking at him like a cute animal you want to have as a pet," Sam teased.  
"I kinda like him, you know... Maybe we should ask him what he’s doing."  
Sam shrugged.  
Dean walked to the man:  
"Hey. What's up?"  
"The sky," he answered to him.  
Dean usually couldn't stand people who told such lousy jokes but this time he decided not to mind.  
"I'm Dean. That's my brother Sam," Dean said and pointed to Sam.  
"My name is Castiel."  
"Are you going somewhere?"  
"Um… no."  
"We are going to see The Rolling Stones,” Dean told him and even though he had not planned to ask Castiel to join them he heard himself asking: “Wanna join us?"  
"Rolling stones?"  
"The band, mate."  
"Oh."  
"So, you coming?" Dean asked, turned around and started to walk towards the car. He was slightly hoping that Castiel would say no because he didn’t know how he could explain to Sam that he had invited Castiel to join them.  
"What's going on?" Sam whispered.  
"I'm not sure. He seems like someone who went to Woodstock and never came back."  
"Is that like... an advantage?"  
"I think we'll find out soon. He's coming with us."  
"What?!" Sam wanted to yell but had to lower his voice because Castiel was walking towards them.  
"I'm Castiel," he said, introducing himself to Sam.  
"Like that angel?" Sam asked but when Castiel only cocked his head to his side without answering, Sam continued: “I’m Sam.”  
To avoid the awkward silence that was slowly building between them Dean quickly said: “Alright, let’s go then.”  
Castiel sat on the backseat and didn’t seem to mind Dean singing along some of the songs playing on the radio, even though Sam apologized for that for Dean.  
“So, Cas… You don’t mind if I call you Cas, right?” Dean said and looked at Castiel via the rear view mirror. “Where are planning on going?”  
“I don’t remember.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I’m sure I came here for a reason but I can’t remember it right now.”  
“Okaaay…” Dean said and looked at his brother. Sam looked either humoured or irritated but it was difficult for Dean to say which one for sure.  
Sam told Dean what he had heard DJ Jay telling about The Rolling Stones that morning and after that they drove in silence. For most of the time Castiel was looking out of the window, listening to the music. Dean was driving but also checking Castiel quite frequently. Dean would not admit it to Sam but the more he looked at this strange man the more he started to like him. Castiel was slightly weird and looked like he had no idea what was going on around him, but Dean was sure there was more in him than met the eye. 

A gas station with a huge sign advertising their “prize winning apple pie” would always get Dean as a customer. When Dean parked their car next to the station building, they all stepped out of the car. Sam wanted to stretch his feet, Dean was walking towards the front doors and Castiel was leaning against the Impala, observing them. Dean was about half-way to the building when Sam ran to his side so he could talk with him without Castiel hearing them.  
“Do we have to keep him around?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“The way he’s looking at us all the time!”  
“Yeah, it’s kinda arousing.”  
“It’s frightening, Dean.”  
“Oh, come on. He’s quiet and, as you would say, socially awkward, but he seem like a harmless guy.”  
“I say he’s on drugs.”  
“Whatever, Sammy,” Dean said and started making his way to the doors.  
“It’s Sam. And we still need a new roadmap!”  
Dean just shook his head, without turning around to look at Sam. When Dean had stepped inside the building, Sam heard a familiar, rustling sound almost right behind him and he instantly turned around. Castiel had disappeared. Sam looked around him, took a few steps to different directions but didn’t see a sight of their new, strange companion. He called him by his name without anyone answering. He noticed Dean was walking towards him and wondered what he would say about this. When Dean walked past him he pretty much threw him the roadmap, which still had a price tag on telling it had been on sale.  
“Where’s…” Dean started but Sam interrupted him:  
“Your new friend is missing.”  
“Our new friend. He’s travelling with both of us.”  
“But it was your idea to invite him to join us.”  
“Where is he?”  
“If I was to know, he wouldn’t be missing, right?”  
“He just… left?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Without telling you?”  
“I didn’t hear anything,” Sam said and realised it was a lie. “I just turned around and he was gone. He just vanished into thin air, Dean.”  
“Well, he didn’t come inside… He can’t be far.”  
They stepped inside the car and Dean started the engine. He drove slowly, constantly looking around him. Sam was more interested in their new map and wasn’t really aware of what was going on around them - until they hit something.

Sam shot his head up, Dean froze but Johnny Cash kept singing on the radio and telling how he walked the line.  
“What was that?” Sam asked and opened the door.  
“Wait, wait, wait!” Dean said, trying to catch Sam to stop him.  
“We hit something,” Sam said, stepped out and looked under the car. “Oh, fuck.”  
“What?” Dean’s voice was high and sounded scared.  
Sam looked around and said:  
“It’s a cat.”  
“Is it dead?”  
“Most definitely.”  
“Fuck.”  
Sam stood up.  
“It has a collar on. Those people in the gas station might know who owns him.”  
Dean sighed. Sam took a plastic bag from the glove box and then crawled under their car, very carefully placed the dead cat on the ground and then inside the plastic bag. It was Sam’s luck he didn’t feel nauseous when seeing blood but the cat didn’t look as nasty as Sam had first feared. Before standing up again Sam looked the name on the cat’s collar.  
“He’s name was Lou,” he told Dean.  
“Hm-m,” Dean said and swallowed loudly.  
The radio was playing Live and Let Die.  
“I have always hated this song,” Dean mumbled and Sam laughed shortly.  
“Well, even the film is not very good,” Sam said and started walking towards the gas station.  
“I thought we were busy,” Dean said.  
“We can’t leave the cat here, Dean.”  
“Someone’s Independence Day will be ruined, Sam and they won’t be too happy about it.”  
“You were the one who was driving so just worry about yourself.”  
When Sam stepped inside the gas station he saw one customer and an older couple behind the desk. The clock was ticking on the wall and everyone was quietly looking at Sam, the dead cat and then back to Sam.  
Sam cleared his throat and then said: “Yes, excuse me but there was an accident and… Does anyone of you happen to know someone who has a cat called Lou?”  
“Oh dear!” The woman behind the desk yelled and was clearly upset when she walked quickly to Sam and took the cat from him, laying the cat’s body on one of the tables. Sam reminded himself not to ever eat in that place again, a prize winning apple pie or not. The woman pet the cat, mumbled to him looking like she was going to start crying at any minute and it made Sam feel horrible. He tried to come up with something to say to, something that might comfort her, but he couldn’t think of anything. The only thing he could have said was that the cat had died instantly but he didn’t think it would be the right choice of words at that moment.  
“What’s going on?” Dean asked. He had walked behind Sam without anyone noticing him. The woman turned to look at them and Dean looked guilty as hell.  
“He’s usually very careful around the cars…” the woman explained. “But he lost his hearing a few months ago. I should have known something like this would happen but…”  
“We are very, very sorry,” Sam said. “Is there anything we could do for you?”  
Sam hoped the woman would say no because dead cats or not, they still had miles and miles to go before Memphis. The woman didn’t answer right away.  
“Maybe we should go,” Dean said looking at the clock on the wall.  
They started to back up towards the door when the woman said:  
“You’re going to help me to bury him.”  
“What?!” both Dean and Sam said in unison, though Sam’s voice was lot more quiet than Dean’s.  
The woman carried her cat to the backdoor and said:  
“There is a big apple tree in the backyard. We can bury him under the tree.”  
Sam and Dean looked at each other and then followed the woman outside.  
“There’s a shovel you can use,” the woman said, pointing at the shovel next to the door. Dean took it with him when they walk to the apple tree. After laying the cat on the ground the woman left back inside without saying another word. Dean started digging the grave.  
“This apple tree is dead,” Sam said. “It’s mid-summer and there are no apples or leaves on it.”  
“Yeah, I noticed.”  
Sam took the cat on his arms. “Maybe we should take the collar off?”  
Dean just kept digging. “Do you think we’ll find some old bones? Maybe she has buried her other pets here, too.”  
“It’s possible.”  
“It would be kinda awesome to see some old bones, or what?”  
Sam huffed a laugh.  
“I wonder where Castiel went, though,” Dean said after a while.  
“I know you would.”  
“What is that supposed to mean?”  
“You act like you have a crush on him.”  
“I don’t.”  
“Okay.”  
Dean stopped digging and Sam placed the cat to his small grave.  
“Quite of an Independence Day this turned out to be.”  
“I’m just hoping there won’t be too many polices on the roads because we’ll have to break about every single speed limit.”  
When the grave was shut, Dean put the shovel back to where he took it from and then they left without letting the ex-owner of Lou the cat know anything about it. They noticed some dark clouds on the horizon. It would rain soon.

Forty-five minutes later the gas station was only a memory, it has started to rain and their journey towards Memphis was going smoothly. The roads were almost empty so Dean took the freedom to put pedal to the metal. He had also turned the volume of the radio up and was drumming the steer wheel while driving. Sam could tell Dean was enjoying this but still something was missing. Dean passed some hitchhikers without slowing down the car and this kind of acting was new to Sam because usually Dean had wanted to give a ride to all of the beautiful, tall, blonde girls standing on the side of the road. Sam knew this time was different because there was only one person Dean was expecting to see on the side of the road and was disappointed every time he noticed that Castiel was still remained missing. Dean had asked Sam to repeat his story of Castiel’s disappearance multiple times but Sam was never able to tell him anything other than the frustrating fact that Castiel had just simply vanished. 

There was someone who didn't go anywhere though, Independence Day or not: DJ Jay. He had worked long hours yesterday and today seemed to be no exception to him. Dean wondered if Jay was just very enthusiastic about his work or if he was the only worker in the whole radio station. Either way, he was doing great. He answered to the phone calls he got and talked with the callers, asking how they were spending their Independence Day and if they would like to hear some particular song. Many people seemed to be at work and called from there, even though it was against the rules of their work place. One listener wished for some Bob Dylan and when Jay had then played Mr. Tambourine Man for him he was back on the air, with an announcement:  
"Hi there, my dear listeners! As some of you have already know, the last few days we have been following The Rolling Stones and their journey to Memphis, Tennessee where they have a concert scheduled in just a few hours. They have already called us once before, I'm sure you remember that, and guess what? They’re back!"  
There was a short pause and then a familiar voice was talking:  
"Hey, is that Jay there? How are you, man?"  
"Well, I..."  
"Keith said you wouldn't be there because no one works on Holidays but there you are!"  
"I said no one except for us, Mick." Keith's voice was distant and difficult to hear.  
"But we are rock stars so we do what we want. Are you a rock star, Jay?"  
"Maybe?" Jay said and sounded so hopeful Dean felt a little sorry for him.  
"Hmm."  
"Where are you calling from this time, Mick?"  
“A phone booth.”  
“Oh.”  
“The writings on the walls are most interesting.”  
“I bet.”  
“’Walrus was here.’”  
Jay laughed shortly.  
“We are in Memphis, by the way.”  
“Is that why you’re calling?”  
“Pretty much, yeah.”  
“Well, I must say this has felt like a radio play or something when we have been excited to hear how you are doing on the road!” Jim said and laughed a little.  
“I just think the listeners deserve to hear how this ends, too so I just wanted to call to let everyone know that we are here and everything is fine and we are really looking forward to this evening!”  
“All right, thank you for your call, Mick.”  
“Sure. Bye then!”

The big “WELCOME TO MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE” sign greeted them in a few hours and they both sighed in relief when realising they had made it there in time. There were now only a couple of miles between them and the Memorial Stadium. There was not much time left but it would be enough for them. However, their joy didn’t last long. During the past thirty minutes Dean had noticed the car acting strangely when he had tried to raise the speed. The car either didn’t accelerate or it did but the speed rose very slowly. Now the car was losing its speed rapidly and no matter how much Dean tried to step on the gas the speed didn’t raise. Dean pulled the car to the roadside just in time before the engine stopped. Constantly cursing Dean stepped out of the car, lifted up the hood and looked at the engine. When Sam stepped out of the car, he noticed a strong smell of gasoline. He walked around the car and told Dean the gas tank was leaking.  
Dean looked at Sam and then on the ground.  
“Son of a bitch!”  
"We've still got some time! We'll make it to the stadium if we run!"  
"This is my car, Sam. I'm not gonna..."  
"Like I said, the gas tank is leaking. Just lock the doors and I swear that nothing’s going to happen to it!"  
Dean looked around him and said with a warning tone:  
"Sam, if something happens to the car while we're away, so help me God..."  
"I know, I know. Just come on!"  
"Do you have the tickets?" Dean asked and Sam froze.  
"Shit.." Sam mumbled, hoping that Dean wouldn't hear him.  
"What was that?"  
"Dean, umm... I had a plan to buy the tickets while we're on our way here but… I forgot."  
"You said you have the tickets when we left!"  
"I know I did."  
"You lied?"  
"It was pretty much the only way to get you to come here with me."  
"And now we don't have the tickets."  
"There might be some tickets left for sale, they usually sell some tickets just before the concert starts, don’t they?"  
"Have you magically got us some cash in the past few hours without my notice?"  
"You know I haven't."  
There was a long, heavy silence between them.  
"I wish Castiel was here," Dean finally said.  
"Why? He can't help you."  
"Well, he could at least keep me a good company while we are listening to the Stones, thanks to you, outside the stadium."  
"What, so he's your new best friend now?"  
"It's none of your business what he is to me."  
Sam looked so genuinely sorry that Dean couldn't be mad at him for too long.  
"Alright," Dean finally said. "I have an idea. Take your sunglasses."  
"What..."  
"I'll explain on the way. Just trust me."

When they arrived to the stadium they saw two long lines were made in front of the main doors. Keeping their poker face, and sunglasses, on they walked to the side door, doing their best to act like they knew what they were doing. The side door was locked and when they looked around they noticed a man walking towards them. He was a very big, muscular guy and he didn’t look too happy to see them.  
"What do you think you are doing?" he asked them. He wasn't actually yelling but his voice was definitely loud.  
"Let me handle this," Dean whispered to Sam.  
When the man was standing in front of them, they smiled to him, hoping it would reassure him that they were supposed to be here.  
"Yes, my name is Dean Lennon - not related to John if that's what you're asking - and this is my brother Sam. We were sent here to check out the pyrotechnics of the show and we are quite busy right now. If you could do us a favour and let us go inside so we could do our work?"  
"Let me see your IDs, then."  
"We would love to but my co-worker who is already inside accidentally took them with him so we can't. You can of course go looking for someone who might know someone who knows us but I’m sure you realise it will take time. The longer we stand here, the longer it's going to take before the concert can begin. And those people," Dean said and pointed to the crowd of people waiting to get inside, "are not gonna be too happy about it. Not to mention the members of the band, of course."  
Sam didn't believe for one second that the man would let them go inside but to his big surprise, and also joy, he was proved wrong. The man sighed, looked at them and took the keys out of this pocket. He opened the door for them and let them go inside. Sam expected the man to follow them but he didn't.  
"I’d have never guessed this to go this smoothly," Sam admitted.  
"I told you I was good," Dean said and smirked.  
People were slowly getting to their seats and the stadium was filling up. Sam looked around to find seats for them. He walked around aimlessly but tried to keep Dean on his sight. He saw a girl sitting on a seat and three empty seats next to her. The girl had a long, red hair and big, green eyes that looked sad even though she was smiling. Sam cleared his throat and asked:  
"Excuse me?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Are these seats taken?"  
"Not by me."  
"Ok. If no one comes to take these places, is it okay if my brother and I sit here?"  
"Of course."  
Sam looked around but didn’t see his brother. He knew he should probably go looking for him because the stadium was huge and there were so many people but somehow he didn't want to leave the presence of the girl just yet.  
"I'm Sam, by the way."  
"Anna."  
"Nice to meet you, Anna."  
Anna just nodded.  
"So, what do you do for a living?" Sam said and sat next to her.  
"Well, I'm mostly just roaming around."  
"I'm studying law. In Kansas."  
"Oh. Do you like studying law?"  
Sam stopped to think for a second before answering.  
"It's alright but it's not my dream job."  
"What is, then?"  
"I don't know."  
"I know how that feels."  
"You do?"  
"Well, I don't have a place in this world, either."  
"I'm sorry to hear that," Sam said. 

While Sam was talking with Anna, Dean saw something that immediately caught his eye. A familiar man in a trench coat was standing on a crowd. Dean couldn't see his face but it wasn’t necessary, he knew the man was Castiel. Dean walked to him, placed a hand on his shoulder and Castiel turned around and didn't look surprised to see Dean.  
"Cas? How did you end up here?"  
"You asked to see me," Castiel said like the answer would have been obvious.  
"But you went missing all of a sudden!"  
"I know, sorry about that. I was needed elsewhere."  
"You never mentioned to us you were coming to this concert, too."  
Cas looked around. "I didn't know then that this is where I was going to be."  
Dean sighed. "Your way of expressing yourself is complicated to say the least. Somehow I really like you, though."  
Castiel smiled to Dean and looked straight into his eyes. In some circumstances Dean would have think it as awkward or annoying but this was different. Castiel was different than any other man or woman he had ever met in his life. Dean hated to notice himself acting like a teenager on a first date when he was rubbing the back of his neck when asking:  
"So, Cas. Where do you live exactly?"  
"I don't have a place to call home."  
"Oh. So you are moving a lot, then?"  
"Well, not really."  
"Do you have... I mean, do you live with someone?"  
Castiel frowned a little and looked at Dean from head to toe. "Why are we talking about me all the time?"  
"Out of the two us you are the interesting one. I’m just a mechanic who lives with his brother, which sounds even worse now when I said that out loud. I should definitely reconsider my life choices, don’t you think?"  
"What things you are interested in, other than me?"  
"I've been doing some research of old myths and religions and supernatural elements lately. They are quite fascinating.”  
"Are you a religious person, then?"  
"No, I'm not much of a prayer type or anything."  
"Do you believe in angels?"  
"Not until someone proves to me they exist."  
"I could do that," Cas said in a serious tone.  
Dean frowned.  
"Excuse me for asking but are you taking drugs or something, because if you are, you should stop immediately. They're obviously doing you no good."  
“I don’t…”  
"…know what I mean. Yeah. You know, we should go look for my brother. He's here somewhere and he has probably found us some seats. The concert will start at any minute now."

They made their way through the crowds of people standing everywhere, looking for empty seats. Dean noticed Anna first, because of her long and flaming red hair, and then his brother who seemed to be very into the conversation with Anna. Dean feared he would interrupt something if he was to sit next to them so he decided to try and find two seats for him and Castiel from somewhere else. It was easier to be said than done though, because every time they spotted some empty seats they were already taken by the time they were able to make their way there through the mass of people. When the band came to the stage and the first notes were played, the stadium almost exploded by the sounds of the screaming and applauding audience members. The band started with Honky Tonk Women and by the time the song was over, Dean and Castiel had found themselves standing in a shadowy corner behind the stadium’s highest row. They were leaning against the wall and because they were so high, they could easily see the thousands of people that surrounded the band playing down on the grass of the stadium field. Castiel looked around himself and his expression was interested but also a bit frightened and Dean wondered if it was because he was feeling anxious in the middle of the crowds, or maybe because he had never been in a concert like this before. Because Dean felt like his presence could calm Castiel, he slowly but surely Dean made his way closer to him until he was practically leaning against his shoulder. Castiel obviously didn't mind Dean being so close to him. After a few songs Dean tried to grow the distance between them but Castiel stopped him by taking him by the arm. Looking straight into his eyes Dean acted before thinking and kissed him. Castiel flinched a little in surprise but didn't move away. After a while he responded to the kiss. When their lips parted, Dean looked around to see if anyone was looking at them but no one seemed to care about them right now when Jagger was begging for someone giving him shelter.  
"Now you can tell everyone this is your song," Dean whispered to Castiel's ear.  
Castiel's gaze was full of affection when he looked at Dean in the dim light of the warm summer night.

Sam had left the stadium with Anna and Dean had left with Castiel. Sam and Anna found their way to the bar where they were sitting, just talking about their lives and dreams and their plans for future. Sam noticed that Anna told very little of herself to Sam which made Sam tell more about himself to Anna than he would have liked to. At some point, they left to the local park where they were strolling around and sat on a bench. Eventually Anna had fallen asleep, leaning on Sam’s shoulder. When Sam had woken up, without realising falling asleep, Anna had disappeared. She had not left Sam any note, not her phone number or anything, so Sam just assumed Anna didn’t want to keep contact with him. He made his way to their car but visited a cafeteria first and bought two coffees and two doughnuts for himself and Dean. 

After the concert Dean and Castiel had walked to the Impala which was still standing right where Dean and Sam had left it and sat on the hood of the car. Dean put on the radio and kept the car door open so they could hear the music while being outside. The summer night was bright and warm because Dean wanted to feel Castiel’s warm skin he sat very close to him. When Dean’s favourite bands were playing on the radio, he always introduced them to Castiel and was pleased to see that Castiel was also interested in them.  
“Cas, let me ask you something. And please, be as honest as you can in your answer, alright?”  
“Yes?” Castiel asked his raspy but friendly voice Dean had so quickly learned to love.  
Taking a deep breath and thinking one more time whether or not he should ask this from Castiel, Dean decided to demand some answers:  
“Are you just a normal, regular guy from planet Earth or are you something else? I’m asking because, I mean… Sam noticed that you have the same name as one of the angels, you talk about angels, you are not familiar with the greatest and most played bands of the 70s and most of the time you look like you have no idea what’s going on around you.”  
Dean understood he asked too many questions and that he probably sounded like a prosecutor but he also wanted to hear some answers. Castiel was quiet for a long time and Dean was already assuming he wouldn’t answer anything but then Castiel said:  
“I can’t give you all the answers because I don’t have them. This body is just a vessel and I am not a human like you and your brother. I was sent here to protect you and I don’t know why I was chosen to be your guardian. I think I will know one day, though. I am an angel but I am not the only angel who lives on Earth among people. Many others visit here too sometimes.”  
“How can you prove that you are an angel?”  
“I came when you called me without knowing where you were beforehand, right?”  
“Can you stay on Earth all the time?”  
“No. I have some business to do in Heaven, too.”  
“You know what, Cas? I think I believe you but it feels crazy to say that.”  
“I understand.”  
“Is there any particular reason why you appeared in my life right now? Is something happening to me or Sam or this world or something?”  
“I don’t know, Dean but I’m sure someone has big plans for you Winchesters.”  
“What makes you think that?”  
“You are more than you think you are, Dean.”  
Dean wanted to ask more questions from Castiel but he didn’t. Instead, he lied down on the hood of his Impala and rest his head on Castiel’s lap while they looked at the sky and listened to the music from the radio.

When Sam and Dean returned back home, their life continued pretty much the same but Dean noticed Sam didn't stress over his studies as much as he had before and Sam noticed Dean’s great interest in books about angels, demons and supernatural creatures that he borrowed from the library and read every night. A few days after their trip they noticed an article in the newspaper about The Rolling Stones. Keith Richards had been arrested in Dallas, Texas due to “reckless driving” while he had been driving his rented, yellow Chevy Impala. “An awesome choice,” Dean had commented. The fans had gotten a bit crazy, demanded the police to free Richards and in the end everything had turned out alright. The police had also found a hunting knife from the car, which was classified as “an illegal weapon”.  
"We have a Chevy Impala, we broke many speed limits while driving to Memphis and I have some knives in my car. Still, we had no problems with the law enforcement but instead the band has. Seriously, what are the odds?” Dean said.  
One afternoon Sam returned from the school and noticed Dean was on the phone. He walked to the kitchen and didn't really listen to the conversation but when he walked back to the living room, Dean had hung up the phone and was still standing next to it.  
"What is it?" Sam asked.  
"That was Mom."  
"Is everything alright?"  
"I think something's going on."  
"What did she say?"  
"Dad hasn't been home in a few days."  
"That's not the first time he has done that. He'll stumble back in sooner or later."  
"Do you think so?”  
"You don’t? Like I said, this has happened before."  
"But this is the first time Mom sounded this worried. Something’s going on and I think maybe we should at least try to find out where Dad is."  
“I don’t know if that’s really necessary, Mom was probably just overreacting…”  
Dean grabbed his keys from the table and put his jacket on.  
“Where are you going?” Sam asked.  
“I’m going to visit Mom because it’s the least I can do. You can come with me if you want to.”  
“Do you mean you want to leave right now? Dean!” Sam yelled to his brother who was already heading to the door. Sam walked around their home checking that everything was left in a good condition. Before stepping outside he took one of Dean’s books of supernatural creatures with him. Dean was waiting for him on a door and saw the book.  
“What are you going to do with that?” Dean asked.  
“I have a feeling we might need this while we are gone. It wouldn’t be the first time we come to face something supernatural while being away from home, right?”  
Dean smiled to that because it made him remember Castiel. He missed him and reminded himself to call him some day. He knew Castiel would always come if he only asked him to.


End file.
